1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a child's pacifier and in particular to a child's pacifier adapted for promoting the child's fine motor skills at an early age. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a child's pacifier designed to be easily retrievable by the child and to promote the child's fine motor skills by such retrieval.
2. Description of the Related Art
Children's pacifiers have long been used to sooth crying children, particularly infants and toddlers, and to provide the child with an alternative activity to crying. Contemporary children's pacifiers are also designed to promote the child's development. On example is orthodontic pacifiers, which are designed to provide the child with an oral exercise, thereby promoting healthy dental development.
An inevitable--and typically frequent--occurrence attending use of a pacifier is loss of the pacifier by the child. Conventional children's pacifiers are generally unsuitable for retrieval by the child unless the child has already achieved a level of development, including development of fine motor skills, which is inconsistent with the need for having a pacifier. Simply stated, by the time a child is capable of retrieving a lost pacifier by itself, the child is normally old enough to no longer need a pacifier. Typically it is the small size of conventional pacifiers which precludes self-retrieval by the child. Thus, at a minimum, loss of a conventional pacifier by the child requires the child's caregiver to retrieve the pacifier for the child.
Self-retrieval of a lost pacifier by the child is of particular importance for premature infants which must be kept in an incubator or other protective enclosure. While the enclosure usually includes portals allowing a caregiver to reach inside and retrieve the pacifier for the child, intrusions into the enclosure are undesirable due to the dangers of biological or bacterial contamination.
A secondary effect of a child losing a conventional pacifier is that such loss may go unnoticed by the child's caregiver, resulting in failure to retrieve the pacifier. For this reason, experienced caregivers will normally keep several pacifiers on hand and periodically replenish their stock as pacifiers are lost. Prior art solutions to this problem have generally been directed attaching the pacifier to the child in some manner, whether by a string around the child's neck or to a fastener attached to the child's clothing, or by employing a bib designed to retain the pacifier. In addition to the obvious disadvantages of such attachments, particularly employing strings around an infant's neck, these solutions do nothing to facilitate self-retrieval of the pacifier by the child.
Studies indicate that the United States is experiencing a baby-boom echo, a trend of increased birth rates as women born in 1957 and 1958 (the peak years of the post-war baby boom) approach the end of their child bearing years. Simultaneously, the average age of primary caregivers has increased an the manner in which children are cared for has changed, particularly in the area of daycare where each caregiver is responsible for attending a larger number of children. Therefore it is increasingly important to promote development in the child as early as possible.
It would be desirable, therefore, for a child's pacifier to facilitate self-retrieval by the child. It would further be desirable for such a pacifier to simultaneously promote development of fine motor skills in the child, such as grasping, manipulating, and carrying objects, locating particular portions of objects, and shifting objects from one hand to the other. It would advantageous if such a pacifier could be easily constructed from readily available materials without special manufacturing and were easy to maintain.